Irish History Podcast

In the summer of 1798 large parts of Ireland were ravaged by one of the largest rebellions in Irish history. Numerous people in communities around Preban marched off to fight alongside the rebels. Some paid a heavy price and their graves can be found i...

St Aidan's well is located in the environs Preban graveyard. Rituals have been performed at this holy well for centuries possibly even longer. Although these traditions are now dying out, in this episode we hear the words of the late Maura Carty w...

In part II of 'Stories from a Living Graveyard’ Damian and myself journey back into the earliest history of Preban. This takes us deep into the medieval period. We follow the story of the graveyard through the late Middle Ages and the religious tu...

The ancient graveyard of Preban is situated in the southern foothills of the Wicklow Mountains near the picteuresque town of Tinahely. While its history stretches back over 1,000 years, it fell into severe disrepair through the later 20th century. In 2...

This seven part series starting Monday August 17th, explores fascinating stories from a forgotten graveyard. Until 2010 Preban cemetery in Co Wicklow was completely overgrown and largely inaccessible. When the local community set about restoring their ...

During the Second World War Irish Military Intelligence stepped up their activities monitoring potential threats to the Irish state. Their targets included the family of the far right Irish American activist Aileen O’Brien. Through the course ...

Over the last few weeks I have been paralysed by writers block. In the hope of clearing my mind, I headed off to explore an old stately home. While often crumbling ruins, buildings like this are absorbing places - they were once the houses of ...

Ireland remained neutral in the Second World War. However by the summer of 1940 a German invasion seemed increasingly likely. Having conquered Western Europe the Nazis prepared Operation Sea Lion, an invasion of Britain which would inevitably have led ...

The diet of the rural poor in Ireland prior to the Famine is one of the most unusual in modern history. Adult males consumed as much as 14lb (6.35kg) of potatoes per day. Last week I tried this diet and in this podcast you find out what happened. The r...

This show look at a story related to the series Partisans. Its about the life of a Basque family briefly mentioned in that series - the Gallastegis - who moved to Ireland in the aftermath of the bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War.&nbs...